Against the backdrop of Nepal objecting to the newly constructed road in Uttarakhand to shorten the travel time for Indian pilgrims going to Kailash-Mansarovar yatra, Army Chief General MM Naravane, said here on Friday the Himalayan neighbour was raising the issue “at the behest of someone else.”
His observation, which is seen as an apparent reference to China, came against the backdrop of recent face-offs between Indian and Chinese Armies in Ladakh and Sikkim with troops from both sides indulging in fisticuffs.
Rejecting Kathmandu’s reservations on the 80-km road inaugurated last week by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Naravane said there is no “contradiction at all” in the new road constructed via Lipulekh pass. He said Nepal may have raised the issue “at the behest of someone else,” without naming any country.
Soon after the opening of the Lipulekh-Dharchula road at a height of more than 15,000 feet, Nepal protested and urged India to "refrain from carrying out any activity inside the territory of Nepal."
There were street protests also against the new road in Nepal. On Saturday last week, Nepal also said the "unilateral act" was against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving border issues. It also served a diplomatic note to the Indian envoy in Kathmandu.
Surprised at the neighbouring country's reaction, Naravane said the area East of the Kali river belongs to Nepal. "There is no dispute in that whatsoever. The road which we made is in fact to the West of the river. So, I don't know what they are agitating about," he said in a seminar. Stating there have never been any problems on this in the past, he said, "There is reason to believe that they might have raised the issue at the behest of someone else and that is very much a possibility."
The road built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO)in Pithoragarh is from Ghatiabgarh to Lipulekh just five kms short of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)facing China. This road will reduce the Kailash Mansarovar yatra by 10 to 12 days.
Elaborating upon the issue, Naravane said "There are little issues as we go ahead as to exactly where the tri-junction (India-China-Nepal) should be." He also stressed that these incidents and the face-offs that occurred last week in Eastern Ladakh and North Sikkim were not related. He also said, "We are dealing with them on a case-by-case basis. I have not seen any concerted design into the face-offs." On Thursday, he had also said the two countries resolve such issues through mutually agreed redressal mechanism and strategic guidelines given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in two informal summits.
On Friday, he brushed aside any larger Chinese ploy and said such face-offs are very common and it is "business as usual".
"In fact, you are coming to know where face-off has occurred… Daily we (Indian and Chinese troops) are meeting at 10 different places which is absolutely business as normal. It is only at one or two places where this has happened. And this does happen from time to time. It also happens when there is a change of commanders on ground," he said.
"A new commander wants to show he is different from the others. There are a lot of dynamics on why a face-off occurs. All of a sudden, at a place where everything was business as usual in the past…" he added. Naravane had also said "aggressive behaviour" by both sides resulted in "minor injuries" to troops.
